e the other press ©

 

   
 

to Build Better Cars

David Suzuki

hee
It’s that time of
year. Late fall—a
crisp chill in the air,
on the ground—and
automakers rolling out their lat-
est, largest creations.

Big is in. Big everything. And
sex. Sex everything. Meanwhile,
the streets get more and more
clogged and our air gets smoggi-
er. Polls show that consumers
want better, cleaner cars. We
have the technology if only the
automakers would make the
effort.

In the US, there are now more
cars than drivers. Yet newspapers
this time of year are still filled
with fall automotive supple-
ments, some almost as large as
the newspapers themselves. They
detail every type of new vehicle
you can imagine, along with
advertising for the same. These
days, about half of those vehicles
are SUVs, pickups, and mini-
vans. Most people don't know

 

frost

David Suzuki Foundation

that such vehicles are classified
by the government as “light
trucks,” which means they aren't
required to meet the same fuel-
efficiency standards as cars. So
they are allowed by law to burn
more gas and pollute more.

That's one of the inequities
former Member of Parliament
Jim Fulton wanted to address in
a recent speech to automakers
and journalists at a conference
called Cars and Culture, held in
Toronto. The symposium was
supposed to be an examination
of the role of automobiles in
society.

So, Fulton got up and talked
about how he is a driver too, but
as a society we drive too much.
There are too many big, heavy,
polluting vehicles on our roads.
Entire suburbs are designed
around car culture. It’s making
us fat. It’s responsible for increas-
ing health care costs. It’s making
our kids sick.

In short, Fulton said, it’s a
huge problem that needs to be
fixed now. When we eat up valu-
able farmland to build isolated,
public transit-challenged sub-
urbs and force people to drive,
we increase the smog in our air
and add to our waistlines. When
we allow massive SUVs powered
by big, inefficient engines to roll
off dealer lots, we get stuck with
those obsolete vehicles on our
roads for a decade or more.
These decisions will affect our
children for generations to come.

In Europe, where fuel efficien-
cy standards are much higher,
the trend is not toward bigger,
heavier vehicles, but toward
smaller, more efficient ones.
Two-seat “Smart” cars are all the
rage, combining fun styling with
super fuel-efficiency. They can
park practically anywhere, they
pollute less, and reduce traffic
congestion. But you can't buy
them in North America.

 

  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
       
         
     
     
     
     
   
   

Angela Blattmann
OP Photographer

Name:
Shadrack
Age:

21

Program at Douglas College:

Commerce and Business

Administration
Last CD in your stereo?

A Perfect Circle—Thirteenth Step
Have you been sick yet this fall?

No.

Have you ever had a flu shot?

No. I’ve never had to.
Would you?
I wouldn't get one.

What do you do/take to feel better
when youve got a bad cold?

Uh, cough medication.

 

It isn’t like we haven't had the
opportunity to change. Fulton
talked about how when he was
an MP way back in 1981, he
proudly voted for legislation that
would have greatly improved fuel
efficiency for all vehicles—
including SUVs. That legislation
passed, but the auto lobby
fought it like mad, so it was
never proclaimed. As a result,
today’s new vehicles in North
America on average actually get
worse gas mileage than they did
back in 1980!

Its not like the technology
eludes us, either. Hybrids (which
have both an electric and gaso-
line motor) burn far less fuel, but
few models are available. In the
US, the Union of Concerned
Scientists took an SUV and
made $3,000 worth of simple
modifications to it that increased
gas mileage by 71 percent. In
Europe, new standards will see
fuel efficiency improve by anoth-

Age:
22

No.

Name:
Mariko

er 25 percent by 2005—and
their cars are already more effi-
cient than ours.

Fulton ended by saying that
industry needed to work with
environmental organizations and
smart growth groups if we want
North American cities to be
healthy and livable for future
generations. The audience, large-
ly automotive executives and
journalists, clapped. He sat
down.

Then someone else took the
stage and started talking about
cars and sex. Executives sat up.
Journalists started taking notes.
General Motors unveiled a 1,000
horsepower Cadillac. Young
women in tight shirts tossed keys
to audience members and
encouraged them to go for test
drives. It’s that time of year.
Consumers may be ready for bet-
ter cars, but perhaps the industry
is not.

Program at Douglas College:
EASL

Last CD in your stereo?
Beyonce

Have you been sick yet this fall?

Have you ever had a flu shot?
Would you?

Yes, I have.

What do you do/take to feel better
when youve got a bad cold?

I sleep.

http://www.otherpress.ca ¢ Page 9